A photograph can be sensual without having anything to do with sex. Streaks of raindrops on a windowpane can look sensual, as can the graceful turn of a ballet dancer captured in soft focus. From an artistic viewpoint, sensuality is the ability of an image to gratify the senses; we look at a picture of a street scene and we feel as though we can smell and hear what’s going on in the street. We look at a picture of weather-beaten wall, and we have this desire to to feel its textures. We look at a landscape bathed in colors so inviting and sensual, we imagine we are right there gasping with delight. In other words, a sensual image is an intimate one. And because we know the world through our senses, sensual images can speak to us in very powerful ways. Below are photographs that strike me as having this quality.